Amane
by Daughter of Horus
Summary: Everybody says Amane is dead. But what if they're wrong? None of the Bakura family died in that accident... Birthday fic for LuckyLadybug.


Hi, everyone! This is a birthday fic for LuckyLadybug, whose birthday is October 3. **singing** Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday LuckyLadybug, happy birthday to you!

This will most likely be crap, so please don't be mad at me—this was hard to write, and I'm bad with details. It operates on this principle Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there. Takahashi-sama never actually said Amane was dead…

Disclaimer: If I owned YGO, Bakura would be a main character, with screentime (and lines!) in every episode.

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It was a cold autumn night. Seven-year-old Amane Bakura, and her nine-year-old brother, Ryou, were on their way from Tokyo to visit relatives in Yokohama. And they were bored. Very bored. Amane soon made this fact known.

"Mom, I'm _bored._ Why do we have to visit Hiro-jichan **(1.) **anyway?", she asked, squeezing her stuffed Blue-Eyes tightly.

The kids' mother, Emily Bakura, replied without taking her eyes off the road, "Because your cousin Chiharu's 15th birthday is tomorrow. We have to be at the party." Secretly, she had been wondering the same thing herself. Chiharu was a rude, snotty brat whose parents spoiled her rotten. Her brother-in-law, Akihiro, was condescending and rude towards her, and his wife Misaki was incredibly shallow. Still, they _were_ her relatives. With a sigh, she brushed a few strands of white hair out of her eyes.

It was a relatively well-kept road, so there were no potholes or bumps, making the long drive incredibly easy. Ryou yawned sleepily next to his sister. He was half-asleep, due to the late hour and the soothing motion of the car. Amane was relieving her boredom by drumming along to the song playing on the car radio. She started to sing along in a reedy voice, humming where she didn't know the words.

Emily's head started to nod. It was so quiet, and theirs was the only car in sight…

She was unable to react in time when a car coming in the opposite direction skidded and plowed into their small Chevy with a sickening crunch.

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The first thing Ryou saw when he opened his eyes was white. Dazed, he wondered if he was dead, before catching sight of the doctor hovering over him.

"Good, you're awake. Shhh—don't try to move yet.", he added, for Ryou had struggled to sit up in bed.

"D--doku…? Nani…?" **(2.)**

The doctor explained patiently, "You're at the hospital. There was an accident on the road."

"Wh—what happened to me? Where's my sister and my mom?"

"They're both going to be fine. Your mother's in surgery right now, but your sister is just down the hall. You have a broken wrist, so you should be careful not to move around too much."

Ryou winced in pain as he raised his arm to examine the injury. To his relief, it didn't look so bad—it was completely covered in a white cast and really hurt, but that seemed to be the worst of it.

"Is it all right for me to visit my sister now?"

The doctor considered this. Amane Bakura had been unconscious for several hours, and it was impossible to determine if she would wake up in the next 24 hours or years from now. "Well…", he said finally, "Okay. She's in room 213. Be careful with your arm." Wincing and nodding his thanks, Ryou got out of bed and exited the room.

As he opened the door to Amane's room, he was struck by how small and fragile she looked. She was unconscious, her white hair was spread out over the pillow, and her eyes, which were dark blue like their mothers', were closed. She was hooked up to a forbidding array of machines, most of which seemed to be beeping steadily.

"Oh, Amane…please wake up soon…"

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Amane Bakura was vaguely aware of someone saying her name, but her attention was focused on the sight before her. She was floating in a dark space, in which there was a point of light far off in the distance. A voice came from behind her.

"Why are you here?" She turned around to face a tall, thin man in black. His hair was black, as was his suit. He had a deathly pale face and a slight smile.

Stammering, she answered, "I—I don't know. Where are we? Who are you?"

His smile grew. "We are hovering between life and death, my dear Amane. My name is Azrael. I'm usually supposed to guide you to the next life."

"Th—the next life? Am I dead?"

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course not, child. In fact, you're not supposed to be here at all. I was sent to help you back to the world of the living."

Amane blinked. Her seven-year-old mind had never received so much information at once. "So…you're an angel?"

He nodded.

"And you're going to get me back to Mom and Ryou?"

He nodded again.

"Yay! Domo arigato, Azrael-sama!" **(3.)** She bounded forwards and hugged him around the middle. He was an angel and thus had no breath, but if he had, it would surely have been knocked out of him.

When she let go of him, he sighed. "Come with me. I'll get you back to where you're supposed to be. Remember—step away from the light."

With this, he took her hand and led her back to the world of the living.

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Back in the hospital room, Amane shuddered. Ryou leaned forwards, holding his breath. _Is she waking up?_ His question was answered as she opened her eyes, blinking slowly and sitting up in bed.

"Oniichan…?"

"Hai, Amane, it's me."

She smiled. "That's good. I was afraid I wouldn't see you again."

Ryou raised an eyebrow at this, but let it pass. He heard the voice of the Ring (which he was wearing under his shirt) say, _I don't like this. She smells of the spirit world. _Amane leaned forwards and tapped the Ring. "Um, oniichan?"

"Yes?"

"There's a ghost in your necklace."

He smiled. "I know. Otousan gives weird presents, doesn't he?"

Just then, a nurse came into the room. Seeing that Amane had woken up, she called for the doctor, who ushered Ryou back to his room. He fell asleep immediately upon contact with the pillow.

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Several hours later, Emily Bakura came out of surgery. She had sustained 3 broken ribs, and her left arm was shattered in two places. Amane was found to have a concussion and a badly broken leg that the doctors said would always cause her to walk with a limp. She walked with crutches for three months. Ryou's wrist healed, but it still ached whenever it rained.

Chiharu's birthday party had not been forgotten by their aunt and uncle, who continued to bear a grudge for several years. At least until Emily had told them off at a family reunion.

The driver of the other car, 18-year-old Masanori Yabe, had been on his way to visit his mother when his brakes had given out. He had been killed instantly.

**Seven years later**

Fourteen-year-old Amane Bakura sat at her desk in a small Tokyo apartment. Her parents had divorced 3 years ago, and the children had been split. She and her mother had remained in their home in Shibuya, but her father had taken Ryou and moved to America. She had always been close to her brother, so they wrote letters faithfully. She smiled as she remembered her brother's words at their last meeting.

"At least this way you can practice your English!"

Noticing an envelope on the table addressed to her, she ripped it open with a fingernail and skimmed the contents. Her face lit up as she saw her brother's handwriting.

_Dear Amane,_

_I miss you. How are mother and grandmother doing? I started a new school today. The classes aren't too hard, but they will be—expect lots of complaints. I seem to have gotten my own fan club, but Ry-chan—oh yes, Ryouroka is in my school too, and doing an admirable job of keeping them off me. The P.E. coach, Mr. Carter, wants me to cut my_ _hair short._ _**(4.)** I don't think I will. Ryouroka sends her greetings, and tells you to take good care of Ueda-chan. You'll be pleased to know that Kutara-chan is doing fine—he is_ _sleeping on my chair right now. **(5.)** In my lap. Do you know that cats snore?_

_Good luck in your last year of middle school!_

_Ryou_

Smiling, she sat down to write a reply.

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1. Hiro-jichan Uncle Hiro. I have no idea if Japanese kids address their aunts and uncles by their first names or not, so I hope I haven't screwed it up.

2. Doku Where.

Nani Everyone in fandom knows this. It means "what".

3. –sama is like saying "lord." It's used for those you really respect.

4. This incident was in the manga. Yes, I know the guy's name is Karita, but I romanized it.

5. I love cats. So, I decided to give one to Amane (Ueda, a female calico) and one to my OC, Ryouroka (Kutaragi, a male brown-and-black tabby). Kutaragi is named after the creator of the PlayStation, Ken Kutaragi. Ueda is named after the master behind Final Fantasy, Yoshinori Ueda. (Yes, I love video games, too.)

That was…weird. I was trying to make it fluffy, but I don't think I pulled it off very well. I wasn't sure about Amane's character either, but I don't think she's dead. First of all, Ryou's sane, isn't he? Sane people do not write letters to their dead sisters! Second, I read the manga, and all we see is him writing a letter. He never says anything about her being dead. I also don't have a copy of the manga where Ryou was writing that letter, so I don't know how accurate my version was.

Okay, I hope LuckyLadybug actually likes this, and I hope the rest of you like it too. Leave a nice review!


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